Steven Kelley

I'm no expert, so take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt. I don't think RTV is rigid enough for you to make an accurately dimensioned plastic replica. I would think you need to use something more rigid, like a plaster, so that you have a hard mold. The RTV I'm used to using is more like a rubber, and can flex and move quite a bit. It might work, but I would think a more rigid mold would provide a more accurate replica. If you could get your hands on some polycarbonate resin, and make a plaster mold, you could probably make a very accurate replica. Polycarbonate is very hard at room temp. It melts at about 500ºF. Melt the resin in a pot and pour into the mold.

Excellent videos! What type of bone folder are you using?

CZ75 is the only one I see listed.

Not sure if any of you are thinking about buying a Boss, but I just noticed they are on sale for $1195 from Tippmann. I have been on the fence about buying one, and that pushed me over the edge. I'm sure I will need some advice and help getting it set up and running.

A few weeks ago I was searching old posts, I believe on this site, and found this on holster making procedures from the late great Lou Alessi about his process. How true this is today I have no idea, but there is no mention of applying oil at any point. Here is what he said (and I retyped this from a paper copy I printed): 1. Cut the pattern 2. Dye the pattern, We dip dye using 5 gallon drums. 3. Allow the dye to flash off, then edge bevel the inside edges that will not be stitched, like the mouth, and muzzle of the pattern. 4. Crease the edges with a #3 creasing took, then apply hard wax of appropriate color to edges that will not be stitched, and polish the edges on a buffing wheel. 5. Apply the name stamp, and weapon ID. 6. Apply cement, allow to dry, apply stitch patterns, and perform stitching. 7. Machine trim all stitched edges, dye edges, and wax edges on a hot wax wheel to achieve a hard waxed edge. Buff edges to a gloss. 8. By this time, the dye has lightened up, and the leather is dry. We then re-dip into dye, or (for black) HOT water, for about 20 seconds. Insert mold, or gun, and press the leather around the gun in an arbor press with 40 durometer rubber 2" thick. 9. Gun and holster remain in press for aprox 1 minute for molding. Then the holster and gun are removed, and the leather is hand boned to enhance the lines of the weapon, and to insure correct fit, along with allowing a sight track using a 3/8" wood dowel to create a "tunnel". 10. Holster (with gun still in place) is then buffed on a horse hair brush via machine, and once again the edges are buffed to bring up the wax shine. 11. Gun is removed from holster, and holster is placed into a low heat over, (aprox 110 degs). Holsters are left to dry slowly overnight. 12. Next morning the holsters are removed from the oven and buffed again to remove any oxidation from the dye. 13. Holster is then sprayed with an acrylic finish to seal the leather, and provide a shine. 14. Back into the oven to dry as the finish is a water based formula. After drying for aprox two hours, they are given a final buff. 15. Holster are checked for flaws, and then fitted with mostly real guns to determine proper fit, and adjusted as necessary. Snaps, and hardware are applied last. 16. Bagged, and shipped to customer. Whew! I'm tired Lou

Thanks for clearing that up Denster. I was never very good at remember names of people or anything else for that matter.

I preheat the oven to 150, as that's the lowest temp setting it will take. When I put the holster in, I turn the oven off. My limited experience says that putting it in the oven will make it stiffer. I read a good scientific description somewhere about how the heat causes the tannins to move or disperse in some way causing it to stiffen. I don't remember much about the scientific jargon but I do know it seems to work. Since I live in the desert, once it heats up outside I'll most likely just put the holster on my back patio in the shade for a few minutes, since it will be 120 degrees and 5 % humidity, but summer hasn't really started here yet. Hopefully someone else will chime in on the oven thing as well. I think most people seem to like the 120 - 130 range for about 30 mins. That will most likely be the exact temperature in my back yard by next month.

I'm far from an expert on this, but here is my procedure. I have dyed before and after assembly and think it's a little easier to dye after, but that's just my opinion. 1. Cut out pattern 2. Mark glue/stitch lines using pattern and an awl 3. If there is going to be a reinforcement piece, sand & burnish it's edges, glue it, then stitch it. 4. Sand and burnish edges that will be 1 layer of leather (or hard to get to after assembly), like the mouth of holster 5. Glue together and allow to dry for about 15 mins 6. Sand edges to make even 7. Cut stitching groove on front 8. Run an overstitch wheel in the groove to mark stitch pattern 9. I use a drill press to drill stitch holes 10. Cut stitch groove on back 11. Stitch 12. Mold - dunk in warm water for about 30 seconds, allow to dry so that the outside of holster appears dry (maybe a couple of minutes), insert gun, mold with fingers, detail bone, remove gun, insert in low temp oven for about 30 mins to stiffen 13. Allow to dry overnight 14. Sand and bevel edges. I use a sanding drum on my drill press, then 220/320 grit sandpaper by hand. 15. Dye - Using Fiebing's pro dye, I like to use a foam brush and put a couple of heavy coats on. It soaks in pretty fast so you get good penetration of the leather. 16. While the edges are still wet, burnish. 17. Allow to dry for several hours 18. Buff dye residue off with an old dish towel or cotton sock 19. Apply Resolene - 50/50 mixture with water, using a damp sponge. I put 2 - 3 coats on and allow to visibly dry between each coat. Then allow to dry overnight. 20. Install any hardware, belt loop snaps, etc, if there are any. 21. Done I probably left something out. As far as dyeing and edges go, there are lots of ways to do it, and hopefully other members will give you some ideas there. I "like" dip dyeing, but I also prefer to dye after assembly for most things I make. The problem that creates is I would need about a gallon of dye to be able to dip a finished holster into, and I can't justify buying that much dye right now, so I brush it on heavily. It seems to work well, but takes longer. I will also be changing my edge finishing technique soon, as per the other thread about using wax and a felt wheel. I have the wax, and am waiting for the felt wheels to arrive. You just need to find the method that works best for you and the tools you have to work with. After making a few, you'll understand the basic process and will be able to adjust the actual steps to suit your needs, as there are many ways to get from a piece of leather to a finished holster.

I think leather is the most common added material, but some makers add steel or possibly kydex strips under the leather reinforcement piece to make it even stiffer. You can get spring steel from McMaster-Carr in various width, thickness, and lengths. I would think using spring steel, you can get by with a thinner piece, probably around .020"-.030", and have an overall thinner profile than using Kydex. I've never used it, as I don't really like that stiff a throat on my IWB holsters, but from just looking at holsters that do use a steel stiffener, that would be my guess.

Thanks for the comments Dwight, all excellent points. I agree with you on the reinforcement band and sweat shield. I'm not very happy with the way it turned out and like your suggestions there. If I do make another one of these, I'll shorten the band and take it all the way up the sweat shield. It's definitely a lot of work putting one of these together. A lot more than I realized! My wife absolutely loved the color, but I'm still on the fence. One minute I like it and the next I hate it. Under certain lighting, it has a very light green tint in certain areas.

Thanks, and I think I agree with you on the color.

After reading through this post/tutorial by woolfe on making a reinforced band IWB holster, I decided to give it a try. http://leatherworker...=1 I really had to scratch my head a bit trying to figure out how to assemble it. If I ever make another one, I'll most likely change the reinforcement band a bit. I don't really like the way it wraps to the back of the holster. I was thinking of making the sweat guard part of the reinforcement band, so that both halves of the holster would be identical. It seems that might make assembly easier, but I'm not sure. The finish came out ok I think. I used Eco Flo Bison Brown dye and Resolene. I dyed before forming. After forming, the dye really took on sort of an antique look, with dark and light tones. Using the advice given me in my thread on Resolene, I diluted it 50/50 with water and used a damp sponge to apply. That worked much better than my past attempts with it. This was the first holster I've made for a Glock, and will move the stitch line in a little tighter, if I make another one.

Thanks for all the replies! I just finished working on a reinforced throat IWB holster, after seeing the tutorial by woolfe in this thread.........http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=22992&st=0&p=147075&fromsearch=1entry147075. Using the advice you guys gave, I diluted the Resolene to 50/50 with water, and used a damp sponge to apply. I put several coats on and let it dry. The final finish was MUCH better. No streaks at all, just a nice glossy smooth finish. Again, thanks for all the help!

I've been searching through old posts about dip dyeing versus other methods, and am going to give it a try. I'm having several problems with my current technique. I've been using an airbrush to apply dye, and I much prefer dyeing after assembly and forming, because it's just easier and less messy. The issue I'm running in to, with dyeing before assembly, is that when I sand and bevel the edges (after assembly), I have to redye the edges, and when I cut the stitching groove, I have to redye the groove. Will dip dyeing before assembly get enough dye into the leather to lessen the need for all the touch up dye work later in the process? Is dip dyeing AFTER assembly and forming ok to do? When dip dyeing, do you just dip and remove immediately, or leave it submerged for a few seconds?

I've read about several methods of applying resolene, but do you do anything after it's applied? The best application method I've found so far is to use a wet sponge. Once applied, do you just let it dry or do you rub it to smooth it out a bit? Sometimes my finish comes out smooth but other times it is streaky.

Thanks guys. That makes a lot of sense. I've used Resolene, but got lazy and wanted the convenience of a spray can. Learned my lesson! Finishing is turning out to be a lot harder than I expected. Thanks for all in help.

Thanks for the info! So what do you use to rub between coats of black? I was really surprised how the top coat affected it. The color looked great until the Super Sheen hit it. These are somewhere around my 9th and 10th holsters. My 1st 5 were horrible. Way too tight or way too loose, or I would forget to stitch the reinforcement piece on (getting in too big of a hurry to finish). I enjoy making things, and hope this can turn into a hobby that can bring in some income (sometime in the future), rather than just cost me money.

I just finished 2 of these holsters. I am really disappointed in the finish. I dyed them with black Fiebing's Pro Dye, and the looked ok until I sprayed them with Super Sheen. After that, the got a splotchy pattern of dark and light. You should be able to see it in the pics. Any idea what I did wrong here? I'm definitely learning that dyeing leather is an art!

TwinOaks, Thanks for the comments and suggestions. The belt slots turned out wider than expected. I drilled the ends with a 3/8" forstner bit, and used a chisel to finish the slots. After sanding and burnishing, the slots grew to 1/2" wide. I'll definitely narrow those down in the future. Sorry I didn't get a pic of the back. The back of the holster, where the mag release is located, is lower then the front edge, so that the mag release button doesn't contact anything. The sweat guard positioning needs to be adjusted a bit, like you said. I used Eco-Flo "Bison Brown" dye. When I applied the dye, it turned green. It was almost like military olive drab green. I had to apply 4 coats, and each brought out a little more brown. The pictures don't really show it, but there is still a slight hint of green in the coloring. I put the same dye on a scrap piece of leather, from the same cut, and it was perfectly brown. The only difference was the scrap piece hadn't gone through the wet forming process. Has anyone else had this issue? I think I'm going to ditch the Eco-Flo dyes and go with Fiebing's Pro Dyes in the future. Thanks again for the comments. I was almost embarrassed posting pics of it. The pics you guys post of your holsters are incredible. There's a lot of talent out there!! I'm trying to learn, so don't worry about hurting my feelings. I know it's not that good, but everybody has to start somewhere.

So two weeks ago I get the itch to make a holster. There's a Tandy down the street, so I go and buy some leather and a few tools. I have never worked with leather before. After playing with a few designs and figuring out how to put a holster together, I came up with this. The boning needs some work. I've made a few changes to my pattern since completing this one, like widening it a bit to allow more room between the belt slots and side stitching, and adjusting the stitching closer to the trigger guard. Any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Brownells.com has them in stock